W. P. Kinsella has died
W. P. Kinsella, author of nearly 30 novels including Shoeless Joe (source text for the hit movie Field of Dreams), has died at age 81. He ended his own life under assisted-dying legislation. In a statement, his agent, Carolyn Swayze, described Kinsella as "a unique, creative and outrageously opinionated man."
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Kinsella's first and most famous novel, Shoeless Joe, was written at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and later won'the Books in Canada First Novel Award. The magic-realist story of a baseball legend brought back to life by an obsessed farmer was then made into a hit film starring Kevin Costner. |
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Kinsella's most recent novel (written in 2011 after a head injury and a fifteen-year hiatus) revisits baseball and magic realism, with twin brothers from the Dominican Republic whose bond transcends the rules of the game. His final novel, Russian Dolls, will be published next year. |
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Kinsella joins such literary heavy hitters as George Saunders (ohh, George Saunders), Junot Diaz and Rivka Galchen in this anthology of short stories about alien invasions. |
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Bruce McDonald directed this adaptation of a W. P. Kinsella story in 1994. It stars a young Adam Beach, as well as Michael Greyeyes. |
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